Stocking welt



Dec. 25, 1962 H. E. TYSINGER 3,069,882

STOCK-ING WELT Filed Feb. 25, 1960 A I i rw I inn mmvrok HAROLD E. TYS l NGER ATTORN EYS United States Patent 3,069,882 STOCKING WELT Harold E. Tysinger, Cayey, Puerto Rico, assignor to M. K. M. Knitting Mills, Inc., Manchester, NH, a corporation of New Hampshire Filed Feb. 23, 1960, Ser. No. 10,262 2 Claims. (Cl. 66-173) This invention relates to an improved Welt on hosiery and more particularly on seamless hosiery knitted on circular knitting machines. In knitting seamless hosiery, the first course of knitted yarn is held by dial transfer jacks until enough fabric is knitted to form the welt. The yarn on the dial transfer jacks is then transferred to the latch needles in the cylinder, and knitting is resumed. This ordinarily results in a tight ring at the transfer which is a source of discomfort to the wearer. Furthermore, in the transfer operation, yarn breakage sometimes occurs owing to the limited extensibility of the yarn customarily used in hosiery.

According to the present invention, in knitting a stocking, an easily stretchable yarn is employed for the first few courses so that when the transfer takes place, loops of stretchable yarn are transferred to the after welt, eliminating the tight ring and avoiding the yarn breakage which ordinarily results in a defective product. On the drawing,

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a seamless stocking with a turned welt;

FIGURE 2 is a magnified diagram of the stitches in a small area of the stocking at the welt transfer; and

FIGURE 3 .is a sectional view on the line 33 of FIGURE 2.

The invention may be practiced in the making of hosiery on a circular knitting machine. A stretchable yarn (conventionally indicated on the drawing) is used in knitting the first few (eg. 3 or 4) courses at the very beginning of the knitting operation. The yarn used Patented Dec. 25, 1962 "ice for these first few courses is preferably a crimped nylon yarn such as that, for example, described in Patent No. 2,287,099, granted June 23, 1942. Such yarn is easily and resiliently extensible and has a high degree of crimp permanence.

After the first courses are knitted with crimped yarn, knitting is continued with ordinary nylon 12 or equivalent ya-rn suitable for a turned welt for the type and quality of the hosiery which is being made. Meanwhile the 'loops of the first course are held on dial transfer jacks in a circular machine until enough fabric has been knitted for the welt 14. The loops of stretchable yarn are then transferred to the knitting needles from the dial transfer jacks and knitting is resumed. This results in a stretchable transfer 16 at the joining of the welt to the after-welt 18 which makes the stocking more comfortable to wear by avoiding the formation of a tight ring at the transfer point. Such a ring is not only often a source of discomfort but also is apt to result in breaking of the yarn at that point where the yarn is under extra tension when the hosiery is being worn. The stretchable transfer also reduces the number of defective stockings produced.

I claim:

1. A seamless knitted stocking having a turned welt, a leg portion, and a transfer line at the junction of the welt and leg portion, said transfer line having a plurality of courses of easily and resiliently stretchable yarn, the remainder of the stocking being composed of relative- 1y inelastic yarn.

2. A knitted stocking as described in claim 1, said stretchable yarn being permanently crimped nylon yarn.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,287,099 Hardy et al June 23, 1942 2,913,891 Guter Nov. 24, 1959 

